Issue: A
Judicial Official was selected to be a member of a
national legal honorary society prior to his or her
appointment as a Judicial Official. The society
offers to waive the annual dues for all members who
are Judicial Officials. May the Judicial Official
accept the offer to have his or her dues waived?

Response:
Additional facts include that the honorary society
is highly selective in its membership, is open to
practitioners in diverse areas of the law, and is
not limited to those that represent a particular
class of client (i.e. not limited to plaintiff or
defense attorneys). Membership is generally offered
as the result of nomination by an existing member
and in-house research of potential candidates,
followed by a vetting to determine the potential
candidate’s qualifications. The purposes of the
organization are to recognize highly qualified
lawyers, provide a forum for scholarly articles of
interest to the membership, professional
development, promotion of excellence in advocacy and
ethics, and excellence in the judiciary by taking
positions on issues that impact the litigation
process. Membership dues for Judicial Officials are
under $75, while private attorneys pay significantly
more. The Committee unanimously determined that
membership in the organization did not violate Rules
1.2, 1.3, 2.4 or 3.1. With respect to the waiver of
dues, the Committee unanimously determined that it
was not a gift, benefit or other thing of value
prohibited by Rule 3.13, but rather was a permitted
waiver or partial waiver of fees or charges within
the meaning of Rule 3.14(a) and, since the value did
not exceed $250, did not have to be publicly
reported provided the value of the dues waiver when
combined with the value of any other gifts or
waivers from that society during the calendar year
do not exceed $250. See Rule 3.15(a)(3). Finally,
the Committee noted that (1) if there was a
sponsoring member for the Judicial Official to
become a member of the society and that member
appears before the Judicial Official, the Judicial
Official should disclose the relationship for a
reasonable period of time, but not less than one
year from the date of the recommendation of the
Judicial Official for membership in the society; and
(2) the Judicial Official should regularly reexamine
the activities of the society to determine if it is
proper to continue his or her relationship with it.